Friday, February 24, 2012

TWO Years

Two years -

Two Years -

Two Years -

There are currently THREE yes ~ 3 children on the adoption list that either JUSt celebrated their 2nd birthday this month are younger.

In adoption terms the term AYAP means as young as possible. In most adoptions, 0-3 years is the golden age - but for some reason these children have jsut sat on the list. REally, really - why because they are SHORT and they will always be short.

ALL OF THESE CHILDREN ARE CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION

Meet Josiah - his 2nd birthday was TODAY.
He lives in an incredible foster home which we have actually visited and he is DARLING! He is currently on the shared list and the best part is that New Day blogs about their children often. AND since he is SOOO stinkin' cute he gets his picture taken ALOT! See Here

This is Whitney and her birthday is 9/11/2008 (I believe she was jsut returned to the shared list). She is a little princess! She knows the facial expressions of others, and can be very cooperative when putting on clothes. Whitney is extroverted, active and restless; she likes outdoor activities and playing games, watching TV and playing dolls.

Doesn't she jsut remind you of our FeiFei!

This is Ella and she just celebrated her second birthday at the beginning of February! She is extroverted, active and restless; she likes outdoor activity and playing games, watching TV and playing dolls. She is a likable child.

LOOK at that hair - us moms of children with dwarfism have to admit that they have GREAT hair!!

(I believe she is with BAAS right now)

And presenting Tanner born 5/13/10 - yes NOT EVEN TWO! (reports when he was 4 mos) This little guy was hiding on the shared list so SNATCH him up - oh isn't he cute right down to his elfin ears! The child has extroverted, active personality, likes to listen to music, likes others to hold him in arms, will cry loudly when he is unhappy and will stop crying at once when held up by someone, can respond actively to stimulation of new things or strangers, and can accept the food he never tried before.

I believe he has achondroplasia, but also has extra thumbs.

Now before I go on, I wanted to add something very important. You see most of these little ones aren't walking yet, which CAN freak some perspective parents out - BUT think about their anatomy. There heads are BIG, their torso's are normal length and then they have their fabulous BUT short little legs trying to hold everything up. It takes jsut a little bit longer.

So here is the developmental milestone chart for children with dwarfism. Please use this before believing that one of these children are delayed. They will walk they jsut have a few hurdles to overcome first!

Two years -

Two Years -

Two Years -

I noticed something else about 2 years - the older children with dwarfism have sat on the list for over two years! Again why most have nothing else wrong with them besides theya re short, a bit stocky. They are SMART, and most importantly HAPPY.

Everyone LOVES FeiFei

THere are currently 25 children available in China with dwarfism

10/98 Fred ages out in Oct - look at him he is awesome. He is an outgoing boy who was not too shy when talking with us. He attends school outside the orphanage and is in the 2nd grade. Because he has grown up in the orphanage, the orphanage started him in school at a much later age than he would have started had he grown up in a family, but they report that he is quite smart. He’s a very good student and above average. His favorite subject is math. He has dwarfism. He enjoys playing when outside of school especially with a ball.

8/18/05 Jonathon has the \"gift of gab\" and can read people. He has rich facial expressions when speaking. He can speak a sentence of 5-10 Chinese characters, ask “what is it” on his initiative, can take off socks, can unbutton and put on clothes, can button clothes and take off unlined clothes. He can state the purpose of daily used commodities, can count his fingers and recognize numerals, can learn to put away toys after gaming, likes to imitate others’ actions and expressions, likes to play with peers and get along with others well. He has a shunt put in to correct his hydrocephalus when he was 1.5 and had good recovery. He is very clever and lovely.

Don't let the shunt or hydrocephalus scare you - this is a rare but still typical "side effect" from the achondroplasia

11/30/07 Howie is darling all bundled up! Since 2009 he has been receiving care from Half the Sky in a group home setting. Under the carful attention of his foster family, he has been excelling! Attention has been given to language and motor development especially. He is now able to express himself verbally, run and jump, and understand emotions. His foster mom takes him to the zoo sometimes, where he is able to identify many of the animals. The monkeys are his favorite!

6/13/06 Hudson is darling little guy also in Half the Sky program.

6/4/02 - Doesn't he look like an all American boy already!!

So many wonderful kids jsut waiting for someone to come get them - if they remain in China they are considered a bad omen and will have very little future. Here they can be engineers. Dr's, business owners whatever they choose to be but atleast they will have an option.

Naming of our blog

Welcome to Holland poem. was given to us when our youngest (bio) son was unexpectedly born with a rare form of dwarfism. Little did we know that 5 years later would we open our home and hearts to several other children with special needs.